Starting Off Small
by regal plant
Summary: AU where Alex's dad turned out to be a good guy, and still a good musician. Instead of getting into the drug smuggling business, she get's into the music business.


**This is sort of a crappy one-shot that I wrote on a 5 hour flight... but I do think some people will like it?**

* * *

Before Alex had gone backstage, she had a worried feeling in her gut. A tiny part of her was worried that her father would be some asshole. But he wasn't. Lee Burly was still and amazing musician.

There were tons of people in the venue, and for Alex to see an incredible show featuring her father was amazing. To be able to sa "the drummer is my father" felt amazing.

Some of the other band mates were questionable. They were nice enough, but they weren't as incredible as nice as her father. But, maybe that was because Alex thought so much of him. She always had.

On her way out from backstage to the parking lot, a tall man stopped her, and gave her his number. "Call me sometime soon. You seem like you'd be good for the job."

Alex had noticed him with the other band members all night. She had run into him on her way out of the bathroom. They had a small conversation about who. He was and what he did. He was their label manager.

"Uh, sure. I will do that." Alex replied.

She left the building and got into her car. Before she started the car, she noticed a man walking quickly towards her car.

"Alex! Wait up a second!"

She rolled down the window. He father leaned down and rested his arms on the car door.

"I forgot to tell you, we are taking a small tour break for about a week. I was thinking we could have lunch or something together. You know, like father and daughter."

"Uh, yeah. I'd like that."

"Great. How about Wednesdays at 12:30. There's this great pizza place in midtown. John's Pizza I think it's called."

"Yeah I'll see you then." Alex was trying to hide just how excited she was, but a smile did manage to form on her lips.

He stepped back from the car, and waved as Alex turned on the car, and drove out of the parking lot.

The show was in Brooklyn, so Alex had sometime to think over what had just happened. She had hoped for the best, and she feared the worst, but in the end he turned out to be a really good guy.

This all just made her wonder what exactly happened between her mother and him. He was nice. He chose her out of all the women who would have killed to be in her position, but then he just left. Alex kept wondering why he did.

She didn't want to spoil their first time meeting with tons and tons of questions. She thought it would be best if they were to just get to know each other, and spend time together with no drama.

From the moment she drove away from the venue she had a big smile on her face. She couldn't couldn't stop smiling. The muscles in her face wouldn't let her.

She considered turning on the radio, or listening to some of her tapes, but she didn't want the memory of live music to leave her head.

She drove onto her street, and parked only a few houses down from her apartment building.

It was a warm summer night. It was the kind of night where if you were in the country you would have a perfectly clear and start night. Alex loved the fact that she lived in a fairly residential part of New York. If she were to go up on to the roof of her apartment, and face the right way, she would be able to see quite a few stars in the sky.

Alex made her way up the stairs and into her apartment. There was no one home. Thankfully; she wasn't ready to explain where she had gone, and who she had met.

She kicked of her old black converse, and walked straight into her room. She closed the door behind her, and collapsed onto the bed.

"Thank fucking god he didn't turn out to be an asshole." She said as she closed her eyes, a smile still on her to face.

* * *

_Wednesday. _

Alex sat at a table waiting for her father to show up. She had ordered a drink while she waited. She looked over to the clock that was on the other side of the room on the wall. She squinted her eyes in order to see the clock more clearly.

_12:53_

She had been waiting for about 25 minutes now. At first she wasn't worried at all. She thought he was just really running late. Traffic or something. But with every minute that passed, the more worried she got.

_1:05_

Alex looked over to the door where she saw her father walk in. The second he saw her he raced over to the table.

"Oh my god I am so sorry I'm late." He looked over to the clock out see what time it was. "Crap I'm really fucking late."

Alex just nodded her head. She was relieved that he showed up. If he had shown up 10 minutes later, she would have been gone.

"The traffic was horrible. Never fucking drive in New York. It just sucks."

"It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too."

The waiter came over and asked them about drinks, and if they were ready to order. Alex got just a cheese pizza, while her father got a pizza with different kinds of meat and vegetables.

"Look I know we didn't get a great chance to really talk the other night... And I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"I do actually yeah. But maybe we should skip the questions for now. Let's just have this be simple."

"Well, that sounds good to me." There was an awkward silence between the two of them. They both wanted to say something, but what they wanted to say, they'd didn't know. "So do you go to school?"

"Uh no. I finished high school but I never went to university. It's pretty damn expensive..."

"Oh right."

"I took music in high school actually. I took a guitar class. It kind of really fucking sucked, but still."

"Seriously? Alex that's awesome. I take it you are into music?"

"I am, yeah." Alex felt proud of herself for taking that class now. She felt like her father approved of her more now.

"That's awesome. When I was your age I was so into music. I had to beg my parents to even let me listen to rock music. Getting them to let me play drums was just... It was hard."

The waiter came with both of the pizzas. The second he got near they could both smell it. Alex was so nervous about this lunch that she couldn't even think to eat, but when the food arrived she realized that she was in fact, starving.

"This smells really good." Alex said.

"It does!"

The rest of their conversation related around music. Lee talk about the music industry and how much of a bitch it was, but that he really enjoyed it. Alex loved listening to stories from the road.

"Would you ever consider going into the music industry?" He asked.

"Uh, I haven't really thought about it. It seems cool, but I don't think I'd really be good at anything."

"Nonsense! You have my blood in you. Steve gave you his number right?"

"Yeah."

"Give him a call, and he'll start you off somewhere in a recording studio."

"Sure." Alex was really unsure about this. She liked the idea, but it also scared her. _What if I'm not good at anything. _

—

The week had passed and it was time for Alex's father to hit the road. They said their goodbyes and the both promised to keep in touch. Alex had also promised to call the recordable guy, Steve.

Alex got home from saying goodbye. Her mother was washing dishes.

"So tell me Alex, where the fuck have you been going to this week?" Diane asked with an edge to her tone.

Alex knew she would have to tell her mother about meeting her father at some point, but she would have thought to bring it up when she knew exactly what to say. She couldn't lie to her mother though, as she would know the second she was lying.

"About a week ago I went to a Death Maiden concert… And I met my dad."

"You what!?" Diane couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I was going to tell you… I just wasn't really sure how."

"Okay. You are old enough to do what you like, but next time fucking tell me when you go do something like that."

"There's also another thing…" Alex was unsure about telling her about a job opportunity, but as long as things were being said. " The manager of the recording studio told me to call him. He offered me a job."

"Then what the hell are you doing sitting here and talking to me? Go call him."

So Alex did.

* * *

Alex started off small in the music industry. She started at the bottom but worked her way up fast.

She started off as a receptionist at Sony Records. For the first few months all she would do was take calls. She booked times for artists and bands in the studio, and booked meetings for certain people.

At one point during her time as a receptionist, she spoke to someone high up on the phone. She was able to charm the guy so much that he gave her a promotion.

She was not this guys assistant, John. She would do things from running to get him coffee, to assisting him in big decisions.

There were tons of big artists who were signed to Sony, and she was able to hang out with some of the bands while they waited to record.

Alex was probably the most charming person you could ever meet. With just a look she could make you like her. She didn't use to know how charming she actually was before she got her promotion. She started to do very well in her job.

She also got paid very well. So well that she was able to pay for food, and some of the rent for her apartment, giving her mother more time to do what she wanted, and not have to work four jobs.

* * *

It's been about a year since Alex had met her father. She had spent tons of time through out the year with him. He was off on tour a lot, but his band came in to record a new record.

Its been months since Alex became an assistant. She was very good at knowing good was to sell, and distribute, and advertise new albums.

The man she met who gave her the job in the first place, Steve, was so happy with how well she was doing, he made her a CEO.

She made so much money that she could support her and her mother. As much as Alex loved her mother, she knew she had to move out at some point. She waited a while to make sure she had enough money for the two of them, and with this big promotion, she was finally able to do so.

Alex bought her mother a nice big apartment only a few streets from where their old apartment was. Alex got a herself in the same area, but quite a bit further away from the old place.

She was all settled in her new place when she had gotten a call from a colleague.

"_So Alex, we are sending you to Northampton for a meeting. There's a band we want to sign with us."_

"Uhm, yeah I can do that. When is it?"

"_It's on Saturday, so you basically have to leave tomorrow. Friday at the latest._"

"Shit seriously? Okay I'll try to find a flight for as soon as possible."

"_Fantastic. I gotta go. Charm the hell out of them okay?_"

"I'll try my best." She hung up the phone.

Alex was able to catch a flight the next day. The band that she needed to get signed was a rather small band, although they seemed fairly well known in the area.

They had sent a few other representatives to go with. They would be looking for other possible people to sign.

* * *

They landed and they went to the hotel. It was a fairly big and fancy hotel. Non of them had to pay for anything their too. The company paid for all of it.

One of the people who was sent to go along was a girl named Sylvia. Her and Alex had a thing going on. Alex was fully aware that a relationship between co-workers wasn't a smart idea, but she didn't care. She didn't really have feelings for the girl. Alex liked being around her, and she liked having sex with her, but she didn't think much more of the relationship.

Sylvia on the other hand had more feelings about it then Alex did.

The first night the 5 of them decided to go out for a drink. They were near Smith Collage, so most places were filled with college students.

They went to a smaller bar a tiny bit further away. It was a lot quieter. Alex found the whole thing weird. She was probably the youngest person there to become a CEO. She had no idea how that even happened, but she was thankful it did.

The fact that she was only a few years older then most of the students there was weird. In fact she was about the same age as some of them. It was weird to see people having a life that she didn't have. A life she knew she would have never had the chance to have.

Their drinks came, and from then on it was just a group of 5 people having fun. Through out the night Alex didn't have very much to drink. She liked having fun, but she never found it from drinking.

"Oh god… look at her" Someone said as they all turned towards the bar where a young blonde girl was sitting.

"I think she wants to apply for a job."

"Well it looks like she will get rejected." Sylvia said as she got up. "I have to go to the washroom."

Alex was just looking over at the girl. There was something about the blonde that intrigued her. Alex had learned that she was very good at charming people, and this girl was someone she really wanted to know.

She knew she had a pretty good chance with getting this girl to at least talk to her. She wanted that. _Okay Alex, say something. Anything._

"Hey you, Laura Ingalls Wilder. We're escaping America before the apocalypse. Wanna come?" _Okay what the fuck was that? Shit._

"Sorry?" The blonde said as she turned around.

"Hey Alex. She's hot right?" A guy sitting across from her said.

"She is, yeah." Alex replied.

"I'm sure you could charm the pants off of her." he said, making them all laugh.

"Well I'm going to go up there."Alex said as she stood up and walked over to the girl.

All of the people started to say "go! go!" enthusiastically.

Little did Alex know that her whole life would change after this night.


End file.
